Tag Archives: Queen Elizabeth II

President Donald Trump had reason to feel upbeat as he delivered his annual State of the Union speech yesterday. His impeachment trial will probably end today with an acquittal. A new poll from NBC News and the Wall Street Journal shows the share of voters who “strongly approve” of his performance hitting its highest mark ever, and his approval rating among independents reaching its highest since last summer.

Democrats, meanwhile, appear deeply divided as they cast their first votes to determine their presidential nominee. Mr. Trump used his speech to make his case for re-election, highlighting America’s strong economy and his achievements in the past three years, including trade deals and judicial appointments. Though he ran four years ago as a heterodox candidate, his policies have been (with some exceptions) those of an orthodox conservative, and he used last night’s speech to rally his base. (Economist, tense changed 2/4/2020)

The food market where China’s deadly virus surfaced was a smorgasbord of exotic wildlife ranging from wolf pups to species linked to previous pandemics such as civets, according to vendor information and a Chinese media report. The Huanan Seafood Market in the central city of Wuhan came under greater scrutiny on Wednesday as Chinese officials said that the virus which has so far killed nine people and infected hundreds may have originated in a wild animal sold at the food emporium. Past deadly epidemics have been blamed on wild animals — Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) was linked to Chinese consumption of civet meat — setting Chinese authorities up for potential embarrassment if lax supervision of wildlife trafficking is found at fault in the latest outbreak.

A price list circulating on China’s internet for a business at the Wuhan market lists a menagerie of animals or animal-based products including live foxes, crocodiles, wolf puppies, giant salamanders, snakes, rats, peacocks, porcupines, camel meat and other game — 112 items in all. “Freshly slaughtered, frozen and delivered to your door,” said the price list for the vendor, “Wild Game Animal Husbandry for the Masses.” (AFP , 22 Jan 2020).

German “global policy” shines on the open stage as an altruistic force in global crises, while military forces await their cue offstage – as in the Berlin Libya Conference in January, which logistically was about Africa, but, more than anything else, about Germany’s rise into the upper third of military competitors. German Chancellor Merkel: “Ladies and Gentlemen, you have followed events. This afternoon, here in Berlin, we have had very intensive and serious negotiations, thus contributing to making a fresh political start, giving a fresh political incentive to efforts to generate hope for the people and hope for peace in the Libyan conflict . . .” “Hope” and “peace” in the Libyan conflict were being negotiated by Germany and its military competitors, while Libya’s emissaries were waiting outside the doors of the Berlin Conference – not very different from back then, when Berlin had imposed itself as the mediator to insure its colonial interests in Africa. (German Foreign Policy, 2/4)

Dictatorial paranoia continues to make North Korea (#1) the worst nation. “If North Korean Christians are discovered, they are deported to labor camps as political criminals or even killed on the spot.” — World Watch List 2020, Open Doors.

Otherwise, as has been the case in all statistics and reports on the global persecution of Christians, not only does “Islamic oppression” remain the chief “source of persecution” faced by Christians in seven of the absolute ten worst nations, but 38 of the 50 nations composing the list are either Muslim majority or have a sizeable Muslim population.

The targeting of Christians around the world has become more widespread than ever. Part of this is because “persecution against Christians has taken a technological turn.” . . . in India — where “Hindu radicals often attack Christians with little to no consequences” — “the government plans to introduce a national facial recognition system. Similarly, China (#23)….” — World Watch List 2020, Open Doors.

Perhaps the most disturbing trend is that the number of persecuted Christians continues to grow year after year . . .

Will this trend ever stop and reverse, or will it continue to get worse — and possibly even spill into those nations that, for now, enjoy religious freedom and equality? (Raymond Ibrahim, Gatestone, 2/2/2020)

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LONDON TERROR ATTACK, AGAIN

DAILYKENN.com — A man suspected of being a member of the world’s largest, oldest, and deadliest hate group — Islam — was shot dead in London. Reports say the man attacked several people and was strapped with a fake explosive. The alleged attacker began stabbing people in a shop, then stabbed a woman outside the shop, reports say. The woman was pushing a baby in a stroller and was accompanied by another young child. The attacker had been released from prison at the end of January after serving half of a three-year sentence. (2/3/2020)

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THE REAL REASON ISRAELI ARABS REJECT LIVING IN PALESTINE

Why are the 250,000 Arab Israelis living in the Triangle area strongly opposed to the idea of becoming part of a Palestinian state?

Many Arab citizens of Israel see how Palestinians living under the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the West Bank and Hamas in the Gaza Strip are subject to human rights violations on a daily basis.

What the Arab citizens of Israel need now is to elect new leaders who will promote coexistence between Arabs and Jews in Israel, and not engage in anti-Israel rhetoric and actions. (Khaled Abu Toameh, Gatestone, 2/4/2020)

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Anxious South African Jews Are Planting One Foot, or Two, in Israel Some choose to immigrate, others invest in real estate. Either way, the falling value of the rand is giving them less money to play with.Adi Cohen, Haaretz, Jan 31, 2020

When we left South Africa for Israel in January 2016, it was when we had reached the point where we stopped feeling safe in our home, says Steven. He asked to be identified by his first name only.

My son-in-law recommended “Ottoman,” a six-part series that shows the rise of the Ottoman (Turkish) Empire, with the fall of Constantinople as its central theme. I often think that Constantinople was the US of its day – the world’s greatest military power that seemed impregnable. But, after an eight-week siege by the Ottoman Turks, it fell to the Muslims. Not mentioned in the Turkish produced series is how badly the “Christians” suffered when defeated – many were sold into slavery, others were killed. It was the end of a civilization that went back to the Roman Empire. Constantinople was founded by the Emperor Constantine in the early fourth century.

“Behind the cold military logic of Mehmed’s victory lay a demographic catastrophe of colossal proportions. At a stroke an entire society had been overwhelmed and destroyed, with terrible consequences for everyone in the city. . . . The immediate fate of those who were not killed and who did not escape in the ships was to be captivity and slavery. In the long term, the human flotsam and jetsam was to be scattered over the Christian and Muslim worlds for decades to come.” (The End of Byzantium, Jonathan Harris, 2010, pages 219-220).

Constantinople was renamed Istanbul in 1930.

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TO THE POINT

At our local public library with my grandson this week I met a man who, like me, had an accent. Turned out he was from Germany, born the same month and year that I was born. He was with his one grandchild, a 4-year-old girl. I asked him if he hoped for more. He said there wouldn’t be any more. His eldest two, both boys, don’t want any; and the third, a girl, says one is enough. This is happening to so many grandparents across the western world. White people, in particular, are not having children. Since 2013, the majority of children born across the US are non-white. This will radically alter the United States and other western nations.

Americans have trouble understanding monarchy. Frequently, you hear comments like the one I heard this morning (Monday) on CBS. It was in a conversation about impeachment. The suggestion was made that the president was acting like a king, rather than somebody who has to abide by the constitution. This is deeply offensive to those who have been brought up in a constitutional monarchy. Queen Elizabeth II has been queen for almost 68 years and has never acted outside of the constitution, the British, Canadian, Australian or New Zealand constitutions. Only presidents ever do that!

The London Daily Express revealed Saturday that there’s a plan to bring Canada, Britain, Australia and New Zealand closer together. Apparently, this is led by the Conservative leader of Canada, who isn’t even in power yet. The hope is that within two years the “four eyes” will establish closer political ties. The “five eyes” include the United States, all five nations sharing intelligence. The four are all constitutional monarchies.

There’s been another terrorist attack in London. The police are claiming the man was “mentally ill,” which obscures his religious faith. He was shot dead but not before at least two people were stabbed. Again, the individual had been released from prison early. His mother now claims he was “radicalized” in prison. How do you stop this? There is little understanding of Islam in the UK, the US or any other western country. The religion has always been violent and intolerant of other beliefs. The only solution is an end to immigration from Muslim countries and to start encouraging those already in the West to return to their ancestral homeland.

I was sent some money from England recently. It was actually sent over two months ago and is lost somewhere between here and the UK. Two banks are trying to find it. If there’s going to be a free trade deal between the US and the UK, they need to improve the banking relationship between both.

Two more mass shootings in the United States left 31 people dead and even more injured. One took place in El Paso, Texas and the other in Dayton, Ohio.

Quickly, all mainstream media outlets blamed a “white supremacist” for the Texas shooting, even though the Washington Times initially said his website showed he was a leftist. Violence is no stranger to “right” or “left.”

Further reports confused the perpetrator as a “white nationalist” and a “white supremacist.” From my reading of his writing, I saw no evidence of “white supremacy.” It’s time Americans understood the difference. A “white supremacist” believes that white people are inherently superior to other races. The idea goes back to the theory of evolution, which emphasized the “survival of the fittest.” Out of it came fascist ideology, which claimed that the Aryans were superior to all other races.

White (or any other color) nationalists, on the other hand, simply want to keep their nation in line with the vision of the founding fathers. They want to retain American culture and traditions and are proud of their country and its history and freedoms. I do not see this going away.

As America hurtles toward a majority non-white nation (in 2034) there will be more nationalists trying to preserve the society they love.

Many countries around the world with significant “minorities” struggle from ethnic tensions. Is the US likely to be spared? Matthew 24:7 predicts worldwide ethnic conflict : “For nation shall rise against nation.” The word “nation” is from the Greek word ethnos, which is a reference to ethnic groups.

No, there will be more mass shootings if America is pushed any more down the multicultural path. “Diversity is strength” is the slogan we keep on hearing. If that’s true, why do they keep reminding us of it? It should be clear to everybody by now. President Trump is the first president to seriously question immigration policies.

There were mass shootings before Trump and there will be mass shootings after he is gone.

What the young killer did was reprehensible (I’m talking here specifically of the incident in El Paso).

But a look at his background may help us to understand. He had been unemployed for five months. Many poor whites are competing for low income jobs against Hispanics and other immigrants. They naturally resent this. The best thing we can do to help them is change the immigration laws, which is what Trump has been saying. Young people are particularly alienated. In neighboring Canada, a country with stricter gun laws, a couple of young guys went on a killing spree a few days before the shootings in El Paso. Their bodies were found earlier today.

Comments were made about this being the start of an ethnic conflict. I asked an Hispanic friend what he thought. He came right back with “it’s been going on for a long time.” He already sees Hispanics and whites in a confrontation.

Another Hispanic blamed white males for everything.

On the Monday after the shootings, a local news item proudly announced that an immigrant family from Africa had been given a house by “Habitat for Humanity.” The family has six children and needed beds. The business community gave them beds. There was a great deal of resentment being expressed by people watching this, saying that there’s plenty of Americans need that kind of help – what are we doing helping refugees?

Attitudes appear to be changing. It may be that the multiculturalists will win, but those who wish to preserve America as is, could also win. All attempts to thwart them, by denying them any media coverage, have not succeeded. There will always be some who will resort to violence. If nothing else, it gains them attention.

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THE QUEEN’S PORTRAIT

“For thus says the Lord: ‘David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel.”

A civil servant in the Northern Ireland Office objected to having to pass a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II every day, for which he has been awarded 10,000 pounds ($12,500) compensation. Portraits in six government buildings have been removed.

Would the Irish Republic award the same amount to anybody protesting about Leo Varadkar’s or Michael D Higgins’ portrait? They are the prime minister and president, respectively, of the Irish Republic.

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PRINCE TO HAVE TWO CHILDREN

Prince Harry has declared that he and his wife are to limit the size of their family to two children.

” . . . being as intelligent as we all are, or as evolved as we all are supposed to be, we should be able to leave something better behind for the next generation,” said the Prince.

This is a trend in western countries, limiting the size of one’s family because there are too many people in the world. The problem is that not enough “intelligence” is being used. People of different cultures are still giving birth to six or eight children or more per couple, moving to the West where they will be supported by welfare, from people like Prince Harry.

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350 MILLION

A DJ in England claims that the monarchy costs British taxpayers 350 million pounds per year. The figure is actually 67 million pounds ($85.2 million).

Perhaps he’s getting it confused with the British subsidy to the EU. That’s an estimated 350 million pounds PER WEEK.

The DJ is apparently an EU fanatic. I can see where he might get confused!

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RUSSIA, TURKEY, IRAN: ADVERSARIES OF THE WEST’S NATO ALLIANCE

Germany’s outright rejection of Washington’s request [to support Washington’s proposal for a maritime protection force in the Arabian Gulf to protect shipping from attacks by Iran is likely to inflame tensions further between Washington and Berlin. U.S. President Donald J. Trump is already at odds with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on a range of issues, from Germany’s obstinate refusal to meet its Nato funding commitments to its pursuit of closer energy ties with Russia through the construction of the controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.

Trump is highly critical of the project. He argues that it will make Europe, and especially Germany, too dependent on Moscow for its energy needs, which could undermine the resolve of the Nato alliance to take a robust stand against Moscow in any future confrontation.

So, at a time when the Western alliance is already struggling with how to respond to Turkey’s deepening military ties with Russia, Germany’s refusal to fulfill its obligations to protect shipping in the Gulf will be interpreted by adversaries of the West such as Moscow and Tehran as yet further evidence of what would doubtless please them very much: deepening divisions within the Western alliance.

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MUSLIM BETRAYAL

One of the most troubling aspects of the recent gang-rape and murder of a 60-year-old Christian teacher in Syria was reported on Arabic media as follows (in translation):

Her rapists and murderers are from the [jihadi] organization, al-Nusra. Some of them are foreigners but others are from the area. In other words, those who raped and stoned her are themselves from among her former students and neighbors, whom she taught Arabic in school over the course of 30 years . . . Surely she never dreamt to see such depraved savagery in the eyes of her former students . . . Nonetheless, they preyed on her like wild beasts – even though wild beasts do not rape their mothers (emphasis added).

Such is the third category of Muslims that lurks between “moderates” and “radicals”: “Sleepers” – Muslims who appear “moderate” but who turn “radical” once circumstances become favorable. For instance, after the Islamic State (“ISIS”) entered the Syrian city of Hassakè, prompting a mass exodus of Christians, many otherwise “normal” Muslims joined ranks with ISIS, instantly turning on their longtime Christian neighbors. (“When and why Muslim friends betray,” Raymond Ibrahim, Middle East Forum, 8/4)

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YEMNI SHEIKH BLAMES JEWS FOR . . . EVERYTHING

Yemeni Sheikh Abd Al-Wahhab Al-Mirabi said in a June 28, 2019 Friday sermon in Taiz, Yemen that Allah cursed the Jews and described them as treacherous and deceitful. Sheikh Al-Mirabi said that the Jews are the “party of Satan,” and he warned that anybody who believes that peace can be achieved in the Middle East with the Jews is deluded. He then listed some of the conspiracies he claimed the Jews have participated in against the Muslims, including poisoning and killing the Prophet Muhammad, financing the Crusades, killing Islamic rulers, taking part in the inquisition courts during the Spanish Inquisition, toppling the Ottoman Empire, dividing the Arab world, and deposing Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi. Referring to the Jews as a “plague,” Sheikh Al-Mirabi said: “Let [the Jews in Palestine] taste nothing but [our] rifles.” The sermon aired on Yemen Shabab TV. (MEMRI 8/7)

INDIA AND PAKISTAN NEAR CONFLICT OVER KASHMIR

Following India’s annexation of the disputed territory of Kashmir, Pakistan has recalled its envoy. Pressure from Hindu nationalists led to the annexation. The two nuclear powers have gone to war twice over the territory which has been in dispute since independence in 1947.

Religious publishers say President Donald Trump’s most recent proposed tariffs on Chinese imports could result in a Bible shortage. That’s because millions of Bibles — some estimates put it at 150 million or more — are printed in China each year.

Critics of a proposed tariff say it would make the Bible more expensive for consumers and hurt the evangelism efforts of Christian organizations that give away Bibles as part of their ministry. (Travis Loller, 7/8)

Muhammad Nabi Omari also claimed that the U.S. cooperates with Ghani’s government to transport ISIS members between Afghanistan’s provinces . . . (MEMRI)

Former Taliban Official Muhammad Nabi Omari Claims U.S. Supports ISIS In Afghanistan, Says: 60-70% Of Afghanistan Controlled By Taliban; Our Goal Is To Establish An Islamic State

Muhammad Nabi Omari, the Taliban’s border police chief from 1996 to 2001, said in a July 9, 2019 interview on Russia Today TV that Afghan President Ashraf Ghani controls less than half of Kabul and that he cannot operate in other provinces or districts in Afghanistan because the Afghan people do not listen to him or recognize his authority. Omari said that every province in Afghanistan has its own independent government and that 60-70% of Afghanistan is controlled by the Taliban. Omari also claimed that the U.S. cooperates with Ghani’s government to transport ISIS members between Afghanistan’s provinces, and he said that there are rumors that the U.S. has opened camps for ISIS throughout Afghan territory. He also said that Afghanistan’s intelligence agencies support, arm, and finance ISIS. Omari added that the Taliban’s goal in fighting America is to establish an Islamic state. Omari was held for 12 years in Guantanamo Bay and was released in 2014 in an exchange for Bowe Bergdahl. (MEMRI #7372)

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ALAN TURING TO BE ON NEW 50-POUND NOTE

At first this decision may seem like PC gone crazy.

Alan Turing was the subject of the movie “The Imitation Game.” No exaggeration, he saved hundreds of thousands of allied lives and cut World War Two short by an estimated two years. Turing was a British cryptanalyst who decrypted German intelligence messages for the British government during the Second World War.

“Turing played a pivotal role in cracking intercepted coded messages that enabled the Allies to defeat the Nazis in many crucial engagements, including the Battle of the Atlantic, and in so doing helped win the war.” (Wikipedia. “Alan Turing).

“After the war, Turing worked at the National Physical Laboratory, where he designed the Automatic Computing Engine, which was one of the first designs for a stored-program computer. In 1948, Turing joined Max Newman’s Computing Machine Laboratory at the Victoria University of Manchester, where he helped develop the Manchester computers and became interested in mathematical biology. He wrote a paper on the chemical basis of morphogenesis and predicted oscillating chemical reactions such as the Belousov–Zhabotinsky reaction, first observed in the 1960s.” (Wikipedia)

After the war, a homosexual offense led to the penalty of chemical castration. Some time after his release, he committed suicide, although this is disputed.

In 2009, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown made a public apology for the British government’s treatment of Turing. Four years later, he was posthumously pardoned by Queen Elizabeth II. It was announced this month that he will be featured on future Bank of England 50 pound notes.

It raises an interesting question: How many other talented individuals have been lost due to a sexual problem?

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JAMESTON REVISITED

July marked the 400th anniversary of the birth of American democracy.

Only twelve years after the initial settlement of Jamestown, the people exercised their right as Englishmen to have their own parliament. In time, this became the Virginia House of Burgesses (from 1643), which remained active in Williamsburg until the American Revolution, giving Americans 157 years to practice democracy.

George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry were all members.

Sadly, 1619, when democracy was introduced, was also the year that slavery was introduced into English America, with the arrival of the first slave ship from Africa, in August. Four centuries later, demands for reparations are growing.

We woke up this morning to reports that Donald Trump will lay out his Israeli-Palestinian peace plan at Camp David in the coming weeks.

According to Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahronot, Trump will invite Arab leaders to the presidential retreat but not Netanyahu or the Palestinians.

Every indication is that the plan will propose autonomy for the Palestinians but will deny them an independent state.

In what seems to be a related move, David Friedman, Trump’s ambassador to Israel appeared on CNN yesterday and essentially endorsed Netanyahu’s position on the Palestinians. “We believe in Palestinian autonomy,” he said. “We believe that autonomy should be extended up until the security of Israel is at stake.”

The more things change, well, the more they . . . So it is with the perpetual German resentments of the U.S.

Recently German chancellor Angela Merkel reminded us of that German fixation, when she made some astounding statements to the German media that revealed what many Americans had long ago surmised.

Merkel all but announced that Germany, or for that matter Europe itself, is no longer really an ally of the United States: “There is no doubt that Europe needs to reposition itself in a changed world. . . . The old certainties of the post-war order no longer apply.”

She insisted that Germany views the democratic United States as not much different from autocratic Russia and Communist China: Urging Europe to present a united front in the face of Russia, China, and the U.S., she said, “They are forcing us, time and again, to find common positions.” And Merkel concluded that therefore Germany must find “political power” commensurate with its economic clout to forge a new independent European path.

In other words, in the calculus of the supposedly sober and judicious Merkel, the democracy that saved Europe twice from a carnivorous Germany — and Germany once from itself and once from becoming a Soviet vassal — is now similar to the world’s two largest authoritarian dictatorships, nations that not so long ago murdered respectively 30 million and 70 million of their own citizens. And how odd a sentiment for someone who grew up in Communist East Germany, a nightmarish state whose collapse was largely attributable to the Reagan-era effort to bankrupt and roll back the Soviet empire.

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THAT HAMILTON WOMAN

That Hamilton Woman was Winston Churchill’s favorite movie. One source says that he watched it over 80 times. He certainly watched it every night he was sailing across the Atlantic for a historic meeting with President Franklin D. Roosevelt. It was made at a crucial time for England, in 1941. America was neutral and every nation in western Europe had been conquered by Nazi Germany. The Soviet Union was still neutral. So England stood alone against the forces of fascism.

“Throughout the centuries England has built up a Commonwealth committed to freedom . . . every few years she must sent out her ships to stop a dictator conquering the world.” So says the British Ambassador to the Kingdom of Naples, on the eve of the Napoleonic Wars. England fought alone at that time, too, against Napoleon.

This has been the course of European events. Every so often one nation on the continent of Europe achieves domination over the others. Louis XIV, Napoleon, Kaiser Wilhelm II and Adolf Hitler are the most famous dictators, who all, in turn, tried to conquer democratic England, but lost.

It’s happening again. Germany is the dominant power, as it was twice in the last century. This time it’s different. There’s no military rivalry involved (not yet, anyway), but Germany has achieved the ascendancy and wants to hold its position. Anybody who threatens it will earn the enmity of the teutonic state.

That’s what Brexit is all about.

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“Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16)

LONDON – Boris Johnson formally became Britain’s prime minister Wednesday and immediately set about assembling a team of ministers and advisers to prepare an all-out push to get the U.K. out of the European Union by the fall.

The early appointments seemed to indicate that Mr. Johnson is taking a no-holds-barred approach to talks with the EU, staffing his inner team with several officials who worked with him during the 2016 Brexit referendum campaign, according to people familiar with the matter. Mr. Johnson has repeatedly said he wants better divorce terms from the EU and is prepared to abruptly break with the bloc on Oct. 31 if they aren’t offered.

In his first speech as prime minister, Mr. Johnson expressed confidence that he would be able to renegotiate the Brexit deal that his predecessor struck with the EU but was unable to push through the UK’s Parliament.

“We will do a new deal, a better deal, that will maximize the opportunities of Brexit,” Mr. Johnson said outside his new residence on Downing Street. “In 99 days time, we will have cracked it.”

Mr. Johnson, who took the reins of power after an audience with Queen Elizabeth II, will later Wednesday begin announcing his cabinet. This is a political minefield for the prime minister, who must build a team that will both support him but also aim to represent the differing views on Brexit across the country.

If Mr. Johnson fills the cabinet with too many Brexit true-believers, he risks alienating Conservative moderates alarmed by his rhetoric on exiting the bloc without any deal. On the other hand, their being inside the government would force them to swallow his Brexit strategy or resign. (“Boris Johnson takes the helm as Prime Minister,” Max Colchester and Jason Douglas, Wall Sreett Journal, 7/24)

COMMENT ON BREXIT

“If there were a referendum to vote out bankers in London I’d support it, but there isn’t. Luckily I was given a once-in-a-generation opportunity three years ago to change things, so, along with 52% of the population, I took it. Will voting for Brexit change the way bankers behave, or the housing crisis, created by financial speculation? Who knows, but one thing is certain; voting for the status quo certainly won’t.” (John Harris, Letters, The Economist, 7/20)

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CLEVER STRATEGY

“It is a familiar pattern. The president says something outrageous – this time Donald Trump told four black and brown-skinned Democratic congresswomen, are all of whom are US citizens and three of whom were born in America, to “go back” where they came from. His supporters, who have come to accept what many of them previously found unconscionable, stay silent. His opponents, rightly appalled, lament what has happened to their country. At the same time the Trump administration makes a big policy change that attracts far less attention – in this case, an edict that directly affects tens of thousands of people a year and overturns half a century of precedent.

“Last year 120,000 people claimed asylum, the majority of them at the south-western border. On July 15th the White House announced that claims will no longer be considered unless applicants can prove that they sought asylum in one of the countries they passed through on their way to America, and were rejected. There will be legal challenges to the new rule, because America is party to the 1951 Refugee Convention and because the change may contravene America’s own Refugee Acts of 1980. But in the meantime anyone who passes through Guatemala or Mexico on the way to the southern border without first seeking refuge there may be turned away.”

“The land of the free has a proud history of resettling refugees from far-off places, rehousing many more than from any other country.” (“While you were tweeting,” The Economist, 7/20).

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RETHINKING COLONIALISM

“Let me finish with an epitaph on the District Officer (colonial official) in Africa. It comes from the late Prime Minister of Nigeria, Sir Abubakar Tafewa Balewa. In a speech made on Independence Day in October 1960, he paid tribute to the record of the British Colonial Service. “We are grateful to the British officers,” the Prime Minister said, “whom we have known first as masters and then as leaders and finally as partners; but always as friends.” (Tales from the Dark Continent, page xvii, Charles Allen, 1979.)

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A CALL TO RESTORE FREEDOM OF SPEECH

It used to be that the worst sin you could commit was treason. On a personal level, adultery was frowned upon. But now, without a doubt, it’s racism.

How can we have an adult discourse on immigration and changing demographics without the ability to discuss race? We can’t.

Perhaps that’s the reason why restrictive laws were passed in the first place, to stop us questioning anything, while our culture and heritage are being destroyed.

Note this explanation of Mr. Trump’s voters in 2016 from the latest Economist. “Rather, they were unified by nothing as much as antipathy to America’s growing diversity, and an attendant feeling whites were losing ground. Both were expressed in hostility to immigration, immigrants and welfare spending (which many wrongly believed was being slurpedup by immigrants).” (Lexington, 20th July).

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TRUMP, MACRON TO VISIT ISRAEL IN JANUARY 2020 TO MARK 75 YEARS SINCE AUSCHWITZ LIBERATION The Post has learned that a major, unnamed donor has been enlisted to make the event possible.

Yad Vashem is in the process of organizing a major event in January that aspires to bring a number of world leaders. by Herb Keinon, Jerusalem Post, JULY 21, 2019

In addition to Trump and Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel will also be invited, as will the prime minister of Britain. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau might also participate. It is not immediately clear whether Russian President Vladimir Putin will be involved. Earlier this month, Putin – during a conversation with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – invited him to take part in a ceremony in Moscow in May commemorating 75 years to the defeat of the Nazis. If Macron does take part in the event, it would be his first visit here as French president. (https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Yad-Vashem-planning-to-host-Trump-Macron-other-world-leaders-in-January-596369)

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Germany’s Catholic Church lost more than 200,000 members in 2018 According to a report by the Germany’s Catholic and Protestant Churches, the loss to both communities amounted to more than 430,000 faithful in 2018. (Vatican News, 20 July 2019)

Germany’s Catholic Church lost 216,078 members an d Protestant churches lost some 220,000 in 2018, according to data published on Friday by the German Bishops’ Conference and the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD). The losses have hit hard the two main Churches of the country, as members pay up to 9% of their taxable income as church taxes. In total, around 23 million German citizens are still members of the Catholic Church and 21.14 million are members of the Protestant churches. The two groups account for 53.2% of the country’s total population of over 83 million.(https://www.vaticannews.va/en/church/news/2019-07/germany-catholic-protestant-churches-decline-membership.html)

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“WE ARE NEVER HEARD.” Persecution of Christians continues . . .

“The assailants asked the Christians to convert to Islam, but the pastor and the others refused.” So “they called them, one after the other, behind the church building where they shot them dead.” — World Watch Monitor, Burkina Faso, May 2, 2019.

“When the next wave of violence begins to hit us, will anyone on your campuses hold demonstrations and carry signs that say ‘We are all Christians’?” — Rev. Bashar Warda, Archbishop of Irbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, in an address delivered in London.

” [A] new form of persecution is on the rise—Christian girls are being targeted by Muslim men.. . . . Influential leaders are literally training young men to target Christian girls to impregnate them” . . . “[T]hey’re forced into marrying that daughter into a Muslim family…. Once girls are married into the Muslim families, they’re often cut off from or abandoned by their families and they face even more difficult circumstances. In some cases, girls are the second or third wife of their persecutor and they have few freedoms.” — Mission Network News; Lindsey Steele; May 22, 2019 — Indonesia.

“The mob began shouting outside our home asking for our family to exit our home and receive divine retribution for our sin. It did not seem very divine – we just saw raging evil violent people ready to kill us.” — British Pakistani Christian Association; May 21, 2019 — Pakistan

(Raymond Ibrahim, Gatestone, 7/21)

“There are Jews everywhere. We must attack every Jew on planet Earth! We must slaughter and kill them, with Allah’s help. We will lacerate and tear them to pieces.” — Fathi Hammad, Hamas senior leader, at a rally near the Gaza-Israel border, July 14, 2019. (Gatestone, 6/22)

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OUR CHILDREN’S DEBTS

The Mueller investigation is reported to have cost $40 million so far. Every lawyer in the room is receiving thousands of dollars for a day’s work. Never mind, just add it to the deficit!

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The Liberal Media Won’t Shame Me Out of Voting Again for Trump by Dr. Michael Brown, host of the nationally syndicated Line of Fire radio program, July 19, 2019, Stream

I have no desire to defend the worst of President Trump’s tweets. Or the ugliest of his words. Or the most inappropriate aspects of his behavior.

And I have no idea whether he understands what it means to be a Christian or if he ever reads the Bible.

But in 2020, if it is Donald Trump vs. any of the Democratic candidates, I would vote again for Trump in a heartbeat.

Prince Harry’s wedding to actress Meghan Markle, was a great success, watched by approximately one billion people around the world. Everything to do with the wedding went smoothly, as we have come to expect from royal events in Britain.

Various estimates were given as to the cost of the wedding. Fox News said it was $34 million. A British source said 32 million pounds (one pound = $1.34). The cost was higher than seven years ago, when Prince William got married. According to Fox, security alone was more than $30 million, considerably higher than at William’s. Harry had a greater need for security, a sign of the times, together with terrorist threats made against him for his military role in Afghanistan.

The Queen paid for the wedding; the tax-payer covers security. When President Trump visits London in a few weeks, security will also be expensive. At least with the royal wedding, the financial outlay will be more than covered by increased tourism, television rights, sales of merchandise made for the occasion, and all those celebratory drinks and meals.

The cost of the monarchy is covered by entrance fees to the royal palaces.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

The Economist’s first editor, Walter Bagehot (pronounced “Badge It”), wrote a classic book on the English Constitution, in which he explained the function of the two branches of government. The monarchy, he said, represented the “dignified” branch of government; while parliament was the “efficient” branch.

The Economist has a weekly column on British politics, called “Bagehot,” in memory of its founder, who edited the publication from 1860-77. “A royal wedding is as good a time as any to conduct an audit of the British constitution,” is the opening line of this week’s offering.

In the past, the weekly newsmagazine has called for the abolition of the monarchy. “An Idea whose time has gone,” was one such cover story about twenty years ago.

But this week’s publication points out that the monarchy and parliament have changed roles – “The efficient branch is in its worst state since the 1970s. The two main parties have been captured by their extremes. The prime minister lacks authority. Westminster has been rocked by scandals about sexual harassment and bullying. The Home Office is in turmoil. The government is preparing for Brexit, its most complicated task since the second world war, without a majority in the Commons or a consensus in its own ranks.” (“Something old, something new”, Economist, 5/19).

Most Members of Parliament do not support Brexit, but the people did in a referendum two years ago. “The efficient branch now has an agonizing choice: implement a policy that it believes to be foolish, or frustrate the “will of the people.”

“The dignified branch (the Crown), by contrast, is thriving. The Queen represents stability in an unstable world, as well as unity in a polarized one. She has spent 66 of her 92 years on the throne and has survived twelve prime ministers and innumerable political crises.” Last week’s wedding has boosted the popularity of the monarchy around the world; Prince Charles was chosen last month as the new Head of the 53-nation Commonwealth, to succeed his mother; Prince Harry was appointed as an Ambassador to Commonwealth youth; Zimbabwe has asked to return to the organization after leaving fifteen years ago over human rights abuses and failure to uphold the rule of law and democratic norms.

It remains the case, however, that twenty years ago, the monarchy wasn’t doing so well; a reality that could return at any time.

This is the age of populism and no politician is more popular than Queen Elizabeth II, whose approval rating in Britain is always above 70%, more than double the highest rated politician. Even in her overseas dominions, her popularity surpasses the politicians, so much so that many of them would like to say goodbye to her and the institution of constitutional monarchy. It is the ordinary people who feel differently and from whom she gets her greatest support.

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GERMANY TO REPLACE US AS HONEST BROKER IN MIDEAST Handelsblatt Global, 18 May 2018

“Iran, Gaza, Jerusalem: If ever the time was right for EU countries to unite in their foreign policy as in their trade policy, it is now . . . May 2018 could one day enter history books as the moment when the EU countries including Germany at last embarked on a common foreign policy. The catalyst, as long expected, will have been an external power. Not, however, a common foe, but an ostensible ally: America’s Donald Trump.

“. . . the US and Europe can no longer pretend to be aligned. The US has forfeited its role of honest broker [in the Middle East] . . . If there is today an honest broker, it may ironically be Germany…

“Angela Merkel and her EU peers have certainly grasped the urgency of the moment . . . For Germany to play a diplomatic role . . . it would need to boost military spending far beyond its paltry 1.2% of GDP…”

(Handelsblatt is an influential German business paper; the German equivalent of the Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times.)

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EUROPEAN NEWS

Macron to Silicon Valley: Embrace Europe’s Regulations: French President Emmanuel Macron ratcheted up tensions with U.S. tech giants Thursday calling on them to embrace Europe’s regulation of topics ranging from taxation to privacy to artificial intelligence, because Washington is failing to do so.

Europe Seeks Russia’s Help on Saving Iran Deal, Despite Chill: U.S. President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the nuclear deal with Iran has added fresh impetus to a European outreach to Russia—although European officials say existing tensions make it far from a thaw.

Britain Takes Stab at Wrangling Dirty Money: The publication this week of a U.K. parliamentary report calling for tougher action to stop the flow of dirty Russian money into Britain is a landmark moment for the City of London, writes Simon Nixon.

ECB Warns Against Trade Spats, Urges Patience in Easing: European Central Bank officials warned at their April rate-setting meeting that international trade conflicts could hurt the eurozone economy and called for patience in phasing out the bank’s easy-money policies. (Brexit and Beyond, WSJ, 5/23

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IN FACE OF A GLOBAL TRADE WAR

The EU announced its first defensive measures against US plans to penalize European companies’ business engagements with Iran, by reactivating the 1996 “Blocking Statute.” That law prohibits companies from terminating their business engagements with Iran, to avoid severe penalties in the United States. Some companies from Germany and other EU countries have already announced that they will cancel their contracts with Tehran to avoid endangering their business ventures in the US. German companies, involved in profitable ventures with Russia, could be facing a similar situation. Washington threatens to demand that businesses from Germany and the EU comply also with the April 6 sanctions announced by US President Donald Trump, against some Russian oligarchs and their companies. According to government advisors, German Russia-oriented businesses are “virtually panicking” because of the escalation of a global trade war.
(https://www.german-foreign-policy.com/en/news/detail/7612/)

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Newsletter – How to Become a World Power

Berlin is seeking to use Washington’s withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal to increase its pressure on Tehran. In their joint statement published Wednesday, the governments of Germany, France and the United Kingdom declared their continued commitment to the agreement, while demanding that the Iranian government limit its ballistic missile program and its efforts to obtain influence in the region. The reintroduction of US sanctions offers Berlin a chance to disguise its continued pressure on Tehran as a war preventive measure. At the same time, US sanctions against Iran continue to fuel the power struggle between the EU and the USA. The Airbus Company alone could lose €16 billion in commercial deals due to the sanctions imposed by the US government. Commentators recommend resistance: “You don’t become a world power in a conference room.” At the same time, Israel is exacerbating the escalating tensions with its aggressions against Syria.

“With his decision to blow up the Iran deal, U.S. President Donald Trump has thrown Europe into uncertainty and anxiety — and raised the specter of a new war in the Middle East. One thing is certain: the
trans-Atlantic relationship has been seriously damaged.”

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Zimbabwe Formally Applies to Re-Join Commonwealth

To re-join, Zimbabwe must demonstrate that it complies with the fundamental values set out in the Commonwealth Charter, including democracy and rule of law plus protection of human rights such as freedom of expression. The membership process requires an informal assessment to be undertaken by representatives of the Secretary-General, followed by consultations with other Commonwealth countries. Zimbabwe has also invited the Commonwealth to observe its forthcoming elections in July.

Zimbabwe was suspended in 2002 for breaching the Harare Declaration. In 2003, when the Commonwealth refused to lift the suspension, Zimbabwe withdrew from the Commonwealth. Since then, the Commonwealth has played a major part in trying to end the political impasse and return Zimbabwe to a state of normality.(http://allafrica.com/stories/201805210678.html)

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ISLAM INCOMPATIBLE WITH HUMAN RIGHTS

The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHCR) itself has become a prime motivator and enforcer of the rejection of human rights.

The other charters of human rights are to be found exclusively in the Muslim world. Anything that falls within Islamic shari’a law is a human right; anything that does not fall within shari’a is not a human right.

“For us the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is nothing but a collection of mumbo-jumbo by disciples of Satan”. — ‘Ali Khamene’i, Iran’s current Supreme Leader.

“The underlying thesis in all the Islamic human rights schemes is that the rights afforded in international law are too generous and only become acceptable when they are subjected to Islamic restrictions.” — Ann Elizabeth Mayer, Islam and Human Rights: Tradition and Politics.

Nestled in the heart of Southeast Asia and just at the tip of the Malaysian peninsula, the island country of Singapore is a melting pot of Chinese, Malay, Indian and Western cultures. The Lion City is one of the world’s most dynamic, vibrant and prosperous nations.

A friend from Singapore called me at the weekend. Amongst other things we discussed President Trump’s visit to the region, which is now taking place. He told me that Singaporeans (mostly ethnic Chinese) believe that America is on the way down and China is on the way up. In other words, the most powerful nation in Asia and the Pacific is now NOT the US, but China. Every nation in the region is having to come to terms with Chinese domination.

My friend, who is over 80, remembered the events of 1942 that led Singaporeans to realize the British Empire was on its way down. One of the greatest military defeats in British history was the fall of Singapore on the 15th of February in 1942. The story is told of Lee Kwan Yew, the first prime minister of Singapore. While he was a student, the British blew up the causeway that linked the city to the mainland, to delay Japanese forces. The sound of the explosion could be heard across the island. When Mr. Lee’s British headmaster came out of the school building and asked him what the noise was, Mr. Lee responded: “It is the sound of the British Empire falling.”

Effectively, it was. The fall of the British built and developed city started a series of events that led to American domination of Asia and the Pacific. Now, China’s economic success means Beijing has greater clout in the area than Washington — many nations are looking to Beijing rather than Washington, to secure their future.

I posted an article to my blog in February to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the first time anybody realized that the US had overtaken the United Kingdom as the world’s pre-eminent nation. It’s all recounted in the book “Picking up the Reins,” by Norman Moss. It wasn’t until the following year that the term “Leader of the Free World” was applied to the US. Seventy years later, we find people openly talking about China overtaking the United States. Chinese resentment at US domination is illustrated by an item on today’s BBC World News website. Apparently, the Chinese use the term “Boss of the World” to describe America.

China isn’t the only power center trying to take over from America. The European Union is also determined to provide an alternative to American hegemony, with Germany’s Angela Merkel now often labeled “the Leader of the Free World.” Bible students will not be surprised at these developments.

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IRAN – SAUDI STRUGGLE

Keep an eye on the growing Sunni-Shia struggle in the Middle East.

Saudi Arabia leads the former and Iran the latter. The two countries are fighting a proxy war in Yemen. The latest development was a missile attack on the Saudi capital, fired by Houthi rebels, who are backed by Iran.

Iran also supports Hizbollah in Lebanon, whose prime minister resigned on Friday out of fear that he, like his father, will be assassinated.

From Monday’s Jerusalem Post: “Saudi Arabia said on Monday that Lebanon had declared war against it because of attacks against the Kingdom by the Lebanese Shi’ite group Hezbollah.”

Syria is also caught up in the Sunni-Shia conflict. Iran supports the Syrian president, Bashir Assad.

The West is solely focused on ISIS, a Sunni Islam group which is fighting Iranian backed forces in Iraq and Syria. ISIS is re-grouping in a number of countries, claiming to represent and defend Sunnis from the Shi’ite heretics.

It’s all very complicated. Not at all as simple as TV news depicts.

A new area of conflict is in the Sahara, where the US lost four military personnel last month. Most attention was focused on President Trump’s call to the young wife of one of the men who died. Little attention has been given to the wider problem of a growing conflict right across the Sahel.

The West seems to think ISIS has been defeated; the reality is that the organization has dispersed and formed new radical terrorist groups in a number of different countries. ISIS fighters have also been returning home to western nations – we should expect more terrorist attacks following the “defeat” of ISIS.

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WALL STREET’S BREXIT WARNING

Big banks are worried about Brexit. A group of large financial institutions with big London operations, including JP Morgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and HSBC, has told US commerce secretary Wilbur Ross that Britain’s unstable government and slow progress in Brexit planning may force them to start moving thousands of jobs out of the City in the near future. The lack of clarity over a transition deal is making them nervous.

Their concerns are unlikely to be assuaged by the latest chaos in Theresa May’s cabinet. Mrs. May is under pressure to strip two more cabinet ministers of their jobs following separate fiascos involving Priti Patel and Boris Johnson. And the EU has warned that the UK has less than a month to make concessions on a divorce settlement. The FT’s editorial outlines how the British government’s flailing at home is translating into weakness abroad: “Allies are increasingly wondering whether Mrs. May’s government has the focus or ability to play Britain’s traditional global position — let alone the enhanced role pledged by Brexit.” (Financial Times, 11/8)

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TEXAS CHURCH ATTACK

26 people were shot dead in church Sunday, following a man’s argument with his mother-in-law. Twenty others were injured, some very seriously.

This was the 307th incident of mass murder in the US this year. Today is the 310th days of the year, so, in effect, the US is experiencing an average of one mass attack per day. A mass murder incident is defined as the murder of four or more people.

No other nation in the world sees so much violence. Yemen, in a civil war between Shia and Sunni Muslims (see segment above), has the second highest incident rate. Statistically, you would be safer living in Yemen, than in the United States.

I’ve always believed that people have a right to defend themselves, a right that goes back at least to the time of Henry II in the 12th century and perhaps goes back to the ancient Anglo-Saxon kingdom prior to the Norman ascendancy. The second amendment of the US constitution guarantees that right. After an attack in London a few weeks ago, I pointed out that if one member of the public, just one, had been carrying a weapon, the terror attack might have been thwarted.

President Trump raised the issue of mental health in the context of mass shootings at a press conference in Tokyo. Mental health is certainly a major issue. But easy access to guns, especially by the mentally ill, is also a factor and needs to be addressed. It’s time for that presidential commission of inquiry into mass gun violence. Let the public have their say. They are the ones that are dying, even in church.

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100-YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF RUSSIAN REVOLUTION

November 7th is the anniversary of the Russian Revolution that brought the communists to power. Not surprisingly, Russians are not enthused about the anniversary. They rejected communism over 25 years ago.

There is still talk of a restoration of the monarchy, though most people do not seem to be in favor and do not expect it to happen.

There are lessons here from both France and Spain, two countries that were once dominated by their respective leaders, Charles de Gaulle and General Franco. Both were strong men, who were vain enough to think that nobody could possibly replace them after their deaths. Both men thought that the best way to preserve their nations in the future was through the restoration of their national monarchies.

De Gaulle was a close friend of the Comte de Paris, the descendant of the Orleanist monarch, Louis Phillipe, who ruled France from 1830-1848. The Comte was aware of de Gaulle’s desire to restore the monarchy.

In 1968, France was rocked by student riots and violence across the country. DeGaulle presented constitutional reforms (not including a restoration) that were rejected, leading to his resignation as President of France in April, 1969. He died one year later. De Gaulle, the inspiration behind the Fifth Republic in 1958, need not have worried — the Fifth Republic remains to this day.

General Franco of Spain, a fascist dictator, had more time to think about the Spanish succession, proclaiming that his heir and successor was to be Juan Carlos, of the Bourbon line of monarchs. As soon as Franco died in 1975, Juan Carlos was proclaimed king. Rather than continuing Franco’s conservative ideology, the new King dedicated himself to protecting Spanish democracy, thereby at the same time preserving the monarchy. He even had the respect and support of Spanish communists.

Vladimir Putin may be thinking along the same lines. He’s been a very strong leader, with a 90% approval rating at times. He must be fearful of Russia’s future after he leaves the scene.

The restoration of the Romanov dynasty along Spanish lines, may be just what he’s thinking. He’s already reviving Russian culture, and has helped the church take center stage.

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SYRIA SIGNS UP TO PARIS ACCORD

The US is now the only country in the world that has not signed up to the Paris climate treaty. Syria was the only other holdout, but has now signed.

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PARADISE PAPERS SCANDAL

The Anglo-Saxon world loves its scandals, especially when its leaders are exposed. In this regard, the Paradise Papers did not disappoint.

While TV audiences are focused on who has what and why, it should be emphasized that absolutely no one “exposed” broke the law. They simply took advantage of legal tax loopholes, just as most people do, only theirs is on a much bigger scale than the average citizen.

The only law-breaking going on here was by the German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung, which somehow gained access to private financial information. The paper’s partners in this enterprise included the British Guardian newspaper and the New York Times. No surprises there.

Another concern is this: the revelations are the latest “scandal” to undermine our institutions. As if the Harvey Weinstein and other sexual revelations are not enough, we now have nightly reports that Queen Elizabeth II (and others) have been protecting their assets by moving them beyond the control of national governments.

Times have certainly changed. Fifty years ago, royal tour-guides would proudly announce that the British monarch was the richest woman in the world. Now, she’s not even in the top 500 wealthiest people in Britain (J.K. Rowling heads the female list), and people are getting riled about it.

The amount involved was only 10 million pounds ($13 million).

Exactly 100 years after the class warfare of the Russian Revolution, people have learned nothing. All socialism brought was “equal shares of misery for all” (Margaret Thatcher’s definition). Do we really want to embrace it again, naively thinking it will improve all our lives?

The British-Israel World Federation (BIWF) has called a fast for this Saturday for the peoples of “the Covenant Nations.”

The British-Israelites formed their federation in 1919, but their beliefs can be traced back to the previous century. As the British Empire expanded during Queen Victoria’s reign and America was spreading westward fulfilling its “manifest destiny,” so the number of believers grew. Their belief is based on God’s promises to Israel in Genesis 48, that the two sons of his son Joseph would grow into a “company of nations” and “a great nation” – the British Empire and the United States of America.

It was a widely-held belief in the trenches of World War I, when men from all over the British Empire fought against Imperial Germany. The losses were so great that people became disillusioned with both religion and the empire.

As Britons turned increasingly away from their Christian heritage, so BIWF lost some support. The organization was supported by some prominent members of the British establishment, the most famous of which was Princess Alice, one of Queen Victoria’s granddaughters. In the 1930’s, as the Countess of Athlone, she was married to the Governor-General of South Africa; from 1940, following the sudden death of John Buchan, the popular Governor-General of Canada, she and her husband moved to Canada in war time, so that he could serve there, replacing John Buchan. They remained in Canada until 1946. On two occasions, they hosted President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill at Rideau Hall, the official residence of the Governor-General. King George VI, father of Queen Elizabeth II, also made supportive statements reflecting a belief in BI. A former prime minister of New Zealand was also a member. They have branches in a number of countries, including all the “covenant nations”.

The idea still persists, in spite of Wikipedia’s claim that the theory has been disproved, for which they give no evidence. Yair Davidy’s Brit-Am organization in Israel supports the theory with archaeological evidence. An American organization called “Truth in History” publishes a magazine, which also upholds the teaching. Additionally, the Churches of God that came out of Herbert W Armstrong’s Worldwide Church of God, continue to believe – their interpretation of prophecy is heavily influenced by British-Israelism.

Some are dogmatic in their support of BI, while others are equally dogmatic in their dismissal of the belief. There are those who believe the evidence supporting BI is overwhelming, but there are others who don’t consider it conclusive and reject the teaching.

Whether you believe the theory or not is largely irrelevant. The fact Is that the “covenant nations” are in deep trouble, hence the call for a fast. Coincidentally, the date chosen for the fast is also the Jewish Day of Atonement, the holiest day of the year for Jews. On this day, believers are expected to fast completely, abstaining from all food and drink. The idea is for everybody to humble themselves before God, to be “at-one” with God, through prayer and Bible Study, as well as worshipping Him with others of like mind.

It’s also a day for repentance. Repentance means to change, to overcome sin and return to God with great fervor. It’s unlikely that the peoples of the “covenant nations” will go that far.

Followers of BI believe that Ephraim is the ancestor of the British peoples and nations that became dominions after independence (Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa). Note what God said to Ephraim in Hosea 7:8-10:

“Ephraim has mixed himself among the peoples; Ephraim is a cake unturned. Aliens have devoured his strength, but he does not know it, yes, gray hairs are here and there on him, yet he does not know it. And the pride of Israel testifies to his face, but they do not return to the LORD their God, nor seek Him for all this.”

A little over seventy years ago, the descendants of Joseph, the peoples of the covenant nations, the Anglo-Saxon-Celtic peoples, dominated the globe. The British Empire and the United States had emerged victorious after World War II and it seemed as if God had given them supremacy all over the globe. But things started to go wrong immediately. The British lost their empire in the twenty years after the war; and the United States and Britain now seem unable to win any conflicts.

The Commonwealth has largely unraveled and may not survive the death of the Queen and ascension of her son, Prince Charles.

Certainly, Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand are not as close as they once were. They no longer form an effective military force and no longer see themselves as fulfilling a common destiny. They have also taken in millions of people from other cultures who do not share the same values inherited from Britain. (“Ephraim has mixed himself among the peoples”; “aliens have devoured his strength.”)

At the present time, the greatest threat comes from Brexit and this is why BIWF has called for a fast. Brexit negotiations are not going well. The United Kingdom seems to be intimidated by the European Union, lacking in self-confidence, its stance somewhat reminiscent of Neville Chamberlain prior to World War II. (“Grey hairs are here and there upon him, yet he knows it not.”)

BIWF’s call for a fast and a day of prayer has this to say about Brexit: “On 29th March 2017, Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty was triggered for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union. We need to pray that the LORD will deliver the United Kingdom completely from the Babylonish EU as the difficult negotiations proceed.”

BIWF publishes a book called “We Have a Guardian” recording historical evidence that shows God’s intervention to help Britain in times of trouble. “Dunkirk” was one example in 1940. They are calling for God to intervene again, to save Britain through Brexit and to restore the country to its former self, when many of the people were devout Christians. They are mindful of the Queen’s Coronation Oath, to maintain the laws of God and the true religion, two promises that all the queen’s governments in each of her dominions have conveniently forgotten.

They are also mindful of the threat to the United States and the rest of the world posed by North Korea, calling upon their members to pray about the situation so that a devastating war can be avoided. Such a war would finish off North Korea, but may also set back the United States, allowing other nations to fill the vacuum.